educationsupplement’07
MJDF and the modern
dental career
T
he Faculty of General Dental
Practice (UK) (FGDP(UK)) and the
Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) of
The Royal College of Surgeons of Eng­
land (RCS Eng) work side by side to
promote high standards of patient care
through education, training, assessment
and research.
Until now, each faculty has held its own
membership examination. The Diploma of
Membership of the FGDP(UK) (MFGDP(UK))
was the first-level diploma of the FGDP(UK)
and the starting point for the career path­
way within general dental practice. This
examination was designed to test the knowl­
edge, skills and understanding required
for general dental care and sought to rec­
ognise the achievement of an appropriate
standard of patient care and a commitment
to lifelong professional development. The
Diploma of Membership of the FDS (MFDS)
was designed to support broad-based post­
graduate education and general professional
training and served as the intercollegiate
entry requirement to recognised specialist
training programmes.
Modernising dental careers
The introduction of the Modernising Medi­
cal Careers (MMC) initiative has changed
the way postgraduate medical training is
delivered. This move was driven by the need
for more flexible training pathways to meet
service and personal development require­
ments. One of the key elements in MMC is the
foundation programme, which consists of an
integrated two-year programme of general
professional training following initial medi­
cal qualification. This programme achieves
a set of pre-defined, published competencies
and outcomes and prepares recent medical
graduates for future careers in either gener­
alist or specialist practice.
The General Dental Council (GDC) and the
Department of Health have been interested
in modernising dental careers in the same
way and the UK Dental General Professional
Training Liaison Group was commissioned
to develop a curriculum for foundation pro­
grammes in dentistry. The result was the
publication of A curriculum for UK dental
foundation programme training in 2006. The
competencies defined in the curriculum will
© 2007 Nature Publishing Group
inform the educational content and learning
outcomes of future foundation programmes
in dentistry.
A new approach
It is the view of the two dental faculties of
the RCS Eng that foundation programmes
in dentistry will become mandatory in the
future. It is expected that as well as com­
pleting the GPT course, dental graduates will
be required to undergo a formal assessment
and receive a qualification as a marker of the
standard reached.
The dental faculties have therefore sought
to provide a modern, educationally sound
assessment in their new examination, the
Diploma of Membership of the Joint Dental
Faculties at The Royal College of Surgeons
of England (MJDF RCS Eng). The aim of
the new joint examination is to assess can­
didates’ understanding of the structures
and processes required to provide quality­
assured dental healthcare, and to recognise
the successful acquisition of knowledge
and skills defined in the foundation train­
ing curriculum after completion of the
05
educationsupplement’07
two-year foundation training programme
for all dental graduates. Relying less on
traditional tests of knowledge and more on
workplace-based demonstration of compe­
tencies, the MJDF provides an innovative
assessment for today’s dentist, in line with
the principles of the Postgraduate Medical
Education and Training Board.
The GDC has now decided that there will
be no formal examination entry require­
ment for specialist training and selection is
likely to be on the basis of a range of cri­
teria demonstrating suitability. The MJDF
may therefore become a desirable require­
ment for entry into postgraduate training
programmes generally, including specialist
training, and will be the starting point for
the FGDP(UK)’s Career Pathway for general
dental practitioners.
Shifting gears
The MJDF consists of two written exami­
nations and a portfolio of evidence which
demonstrates the candidate’s knowledge
and application of skills. The Part 1 paper
will include different formats of multiple
choice and short answer questions. This will
test candidates’ knowledge and application
of knowledge of all aspects of the curricu­
lum. Part 2 will be in the form of objective
structured clinical examination (OSCE) and
structured clinical reasoning (SCR) exer­
cises. These will assess the philosophy
guiding the candidates’ practice, as well as
their competence and application of knowl­
edge. For the SCR exercises, candidates will
receive information relating to clinical sce­
narios and after some time to assimilate the
information, there will follow short, struc­
tured discussions about the scenarios with
the examiners.
It is recommended that candidates who
have yet to start any part of the MFDS or
MFGDP(UK) commence with MJDF. How­
ever, transitional arrangements are in place
to ensure that those who have already com­
menced either the MFGDP(UK) or MFDS
will be able to use completed components
from those two examinations towards
the new award, provided that all parts
of the assessment are completed within
the usual five-year period allowed for
membership examinations.
The new assessment will also be of rel­
evance to practitioners with more experience
post-registration. With more flexible entry
into specialist training and the advent of
concepts such as the Dentists with Special
Interests, all practitioners are advised to
06
consider the MJDF as a valuable demonstra­
tion of having achieved the postgraduate
competencies set out in the foundation train­
ing curriculum. Those who have completed
MFDS or MFGDP(UK) need only take Part 2
MJDF to gain the joint diploma.
Supporting today’s dentists
A dedicated MJDF website provides compre­
hensive information for both prospective and
current candidates of the MJDF, MFGDP(UK)
or MFDS RCS Eng – see www.fgdp.org.uk/
exams/mjdf or www.rcseng.ac.uk/fds/mjdf.
The site includes dates of the examinations
and revision days, specimen questions, and
frequently asked questions. Visitors can
also download the Information for candi­
dates document, which contains full details
of the structure of each stage of the MJDF
assessment as well as the examination regu­
lations, guide to the portfolio of evidence
and information on the transition arrange­
ments for candidates of the MFGDP(UK) and
MFDS RCS Eng.
The FGDP(UK) and FDS have networks
of tutors to assist those preparing for their
respective membership assessments and
increasingly, the activities of these two sepa­
rate networks will be combined to provide
joint teaching for the MJDF. As part of the
support network provided for candidates, the
two faculties are running a series of revision
days leading up to the new examination.
These are primarily oriented towards the
MJDF, though they are still relevant to candi­
dates intending to complete the MFGDP(UK)
and MFDS examinations. So far these have
covered topics including radiography, clini­
cal emergencies, cross-infection and practice
management, as well as guidance on the
exam’s structure and format.
The feedback from candidates to these
sessions has so far been very positive. One
attendee, Alberto Fox-Miyashima, reported
that ‘there was an overwhelming sense of
fulfilment from many of those attending. The
way that the lectures were conducted encour­
aged participation and helped increased
confidence among delegates. Alberto also
states that the appeal of the MJDF is the
way in which it is assessed, specifically that
there is less reliance on traditional tests of
knowledge and more emphasis on work­
place-based demonstration of competencies.
He was also encouraged to see dentists from
a variety of dental care settings attending
the study day; interest in sitting Part 1 of
the diploma has come from dentists with
various backgrounds, from general dental
© 2007 Nature Publishing Group
practitioners to hospital dentists, as well as
those from the community dental services
and armed forces. The next of the revision
days, which focuses on Part 2 of the MJDF
exam, will take place on 13 October 2007.
For information on future study days, please
refer to the MJDF website.
Best foot forward
As anticipated, interest in the MJDF has been
significant, with around 200 candidates reg­
istered to sit the first Part 1 examination on
1 October. The first diet of the Part 2 exami­
nation will take place on 26-27 November,
and candidates who wish to register for
Part 2 should do so by 28 September. Those
wishing to register for the next Part 1 exam,
to be held on 7 April, should do so by
8 February 2008.
The next MFGDP(UK) Part II will take place
over 14-15 November 2007 and candidates
who wish to register for the last Part I exam
should do so before 1 February 2008.
For more information on the MJDF,
the MFGDP(UK) and the MFDS RCS Eng,
including submission dates and transitional
arrangements, please refer to the Information
for candidates, which can be downloaded
from the MJDF website at www.fgdp.org.uk/
exams/mjdf or www.rcseng.ac.uk/fds/mjdf.
Information packs are also available from
the MJDF examinations department; contact
mjdf@rcseng.ac.uk for more details.
Ian Pocock
Registrar, Faculty of General
Dental Practice (UK)
DOI: 10.1038/bdj.2007.776